- The US Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in 1788.
- In 1791, the Bill of Rights was also ratified with 10 amendments.
- Since then, 17 more amendments have been added.
- The amendments deal with a variety of rights ranging from freedom of speech to the right to vote.
The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 by 55 delegates at a Constitutional Convention. Its purpose was to revise the weaker Articles of Confederation that had held the 13 states together after they gained independence from Britain.
Before it could be put into place, it had to be ratified by conventions from each of the 13 states, where the delegates argued both for and against the binding document. One of the main arguments against the ratification of the US Constitution was the lack of specified individual rights and liberties, so James Madison drafted a set of amendments to add to the US Constitution if it was ratified.
By June 1789, Madison submitted 12 amendments, though only 10 were passed and ratified in 1791 as the Bill of Rights.
Since then, 17 more amendments have been passed and ratified by the process laid out inArticle 5 of the US Constitution, where an amendment is proposed by either a two-thirds vote in Congress or a national convention of two-thirds of the states.
Those proposals are then ratified by either three-fourths of the state legislatures or by state conventions in three-fourths of the states to become amendments added to the US Constitution.
Here are the 27 amendments to the US Constitution — ranging from personal rights to procedural laws — including their history and the lasting impact they’ve left on the United States.
The First Amendment famously protects freedom of speech.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
TheFirst Amendment lays out five basic freedoms: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the freedom to petition the government.
These rights were important to establish because they ensured that individuals could think, speak, and act without fear of being punished for disagreeing with the government.
In addition to being arguably one of the most important amendments, the First Amendment is still very much at the center of America's political discourse today — from questioning whether or not Twitter bots have First Amendment rights to whether or not the White House banning a CNN reporter violates the Constitution.
The Second Amendment deals with the right to bear arms.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The Second Amendment supports the right to own firearms, though it's been hotly debated whether the Constitution's framers only had in mind the militia's use of guns or if any citizen had a constitutional right to a firearm (this confusion is largely due to the four commas in the amendment that are grammatically confusing).
It has since become one of the most politicized amendments. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that US citizens have a constitutional right to keep a loaded handgun at home for self-defense. Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority decision, did lay out a number of provisions:
"Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms."
The decision was largely seen as a major win for those who believe the amendment refers to individuals' rights to bear arms.
The Third Amendment prohibits forcing citizens to provide lodging for soldiers.
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
TheThird Amendment prohibits the government from forcing citizens to give lodging to soldiers in their homes without permission. Before the Revolutionary War, Americans were required to give food and lodging to British soldiers as part of the1765 Quartering Act.
According to theNational Constitution Center, the Third Amendment is the least litigated in the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court has never decided a case based on it.
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